Open Space: Never neglect the written word“Readership is at an all-time low.” These aren’t just words that editors and writers see in their nightmares: if we’re not careful, they could become the fate of our society. So what’s going on with reading these days? A huge problem seems to be what people are reading. Different demographics are given different things to […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Decolonization, divestment, and Camosun CollegeUpdate: A previous version of this story, and the version that ran in our April 1, 2015 issue, said that the $5,000 donation towards veterinary costs was non-repayable. This is incorrect, and the Camosun College Student Society expects money to be returned to them if a lawsuit that is happening as a result of the […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: All religions same at coreIt was an early Sunday morning and I was attending church for the first time in about 10 or so years. An elderly lady with a promising smile had been chatting with me and, with a particular amount of enthusiasm, she said, “It’s so wonderful to see a new face. I just find it so […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: The ignorance of algorithmsOnce upon a time there were three princes who set out from their kingdom of Serendip for a bit of a lark. They went over land and over sea, met some fine folks, and through a happy accident that none of them were expecting, they all came back home fabulously wealthy. Come to think of […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: The right to die with dignity is long overdueI have seen torture. And I am overjoyed that laws enabling that torture were just eliminated in Canada. With the Supreme Court having recently struck down laws against assisted suicide, the controversial topic of euthanasia has risen to the surface of public debate once more. Arguments against the legalization of doctor-assisted suicide often come from […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Potential pedestrian paradiseWhat’s scarier than going thousands of dollars into debt for a piece of paper that offers no guarantee of earning back its worth, let alone securing the career you’re studying for? Getting hit by a car. And, here at Camosun College, that fear is a daily early-morning concern. Hate Mondays? Find yourself half asleep walking […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Charlie Hebdo attacks heighten IslamophobiaFundamentalist Islamic movements have been taking the world media by storm for a while now, creating mass paranoia in their wake. Movements like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and more recently ISIS and Boko Haram, are radical Islamic groups that have taken military arms under the Salafi movement. Salafi jihadism is a growing problem within the […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Big-box shopping detrimental to society as a wholeShopping at big-box stores like Walmart contributes to our society’s increasing poverty. When money is spent at big-box stores owned by corporations instead of local businesses, cash flow is being ripped from the local economy. Unfortunately, prices at big supermarkets are often lower than at the local grocer, making it difficult for students to afford […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: The struggle to walk in peaceWomen have come a long way in battling inequality and gaining rights as individuals; however, many of us are still unable to walk down our own city streets without feeling objectified. A simple wert-whirl whistle has the ability to remove decades of progress, and forces women to remember that men still have the upper hand […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Stop worshipping false deities of celebrityThe gods are dead. Jehovah, Zeus, Venus, Vishnu. Shadows of these once universally worshipped deities may drift through our present time, but their great influence has faded into the umbra. With the fall of these champions of immortality, we had almost escaped the basic human requirement they provided: the need to worship. To this end, […] Continue Reading |
